


down the road to hither and yon

by ships_to_sail



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Business Trip, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Proud Patrick Brewer, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-19
Updated: 2019-12-19
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21863182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ships_to_sail/pseuds/ships_to_sail
Summary: The Yoders invite them inside and offer them glasses of lemonade before leading them to a back porch where they all take a seat in a set of wicker chairs set facing the back fields. David can hear the gentle moos of cows in the distance and the air smells like fresh grass and something floral and yeah. Okay. Maybe Patrick had a point.“Can I just say, we are beyond thrilled to potentially be carrying the Yoder farm line of gourmet dairy products,” David says.“I will admit, Rachel and I have been reluctant to begin selling the family product. It’s a special recipe to the Yoders, and we wouldn’t want that...familial nature of things to change. Potentially.” The way he stresses the last word makes David’s mohair sweater feel like a straight jacket.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 31
Kudos: 144
Collections: Schitt's Creek Open Fic Night 2.0





	down the road to hither and yon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [storieswelove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storieswelove/gifts).



> for storieswelove, because it was fully and entirely their idea.

Everyone in life has their White Whale. Lance Bass and space, Oprah and the EGOT. 

David Rose and the newly available artisan butter contract with the local Amish community.

“I cannot believe you’re actually going back out there,” Alexis is sitting on the counter, applying another topcoat of nail polish that she definitely didn’t pay for. Patrick comes out from the back room and shoots her a look.

“Alexis, we’re in a confidence building phase, and you are not helping.”

“We’re not in a phase,” David corrects quickly. “Because I do not need confidence building, because you will be there with me.”

“Aww, you guys are going together? That’s so sweet!”

“As business partners,” Patrick says brightly, flicking his eyes to David. Alexis’s excited little handwave dies in the air. She swivels and glares at her brother.

“You’re going back in the closet?”

David looks sheepish, his cheeks turning a deep crimson. “Just for the day, just until we get the contract. It’s just — this contract is really important to the store. And historically...with the Amish…” he waves a hand. “It just feels like the right call.”

Alexis just stares at him, her face still pinched in a little frown. “That doesn’t sound wrong, but it doesn’t really sound right, either.”

“Okay, thank you for the complete lack of help, Alexis, but it’s time for you to go.” David hustles her off the counter and out the door and she only manages to stick a single lip balm in her purse. He leans up against the closed door and lets his head fall against the glass pane, speaking to the ceiling. “I’m sorry my sister is...the way that she is.”

Patrick sets down the pen he’d been twirling in his fingers and leans on the counter. “I want to go on record as being against the ‘deny who you are to get business’ plan.”

David pulls himself off the door and goes back to the box of cologne he’d been unpacking. “You forget that these people have already met me, and they weren’t too fond the first time.”

“I have it on very good authority you’re no longer the same David.”

“Says who?”

“Me.” Patrick gives him that little half-smile and shoulder shrug that makes David feels like his legs won’t hold him up anymore. “You’re different now, David. You’ve built this whole store from nothing, and you’ve managed to turn a profit in half the time you should have. You deserve this contract.”

“Well.” David sniffs loudly and pulls the sleeves of his sweater over his hands. “Like any good businessman, I’d like to have my partner there.” When he looks back at Patrick his eyes are dry but his cheeks are still red. There’s a heat in his eyes and the way he says ‘partner’, Patrick knows he’s not just talking about the business. And he can’t say no when David looks at him like that.

“Of course I’ll come, David.” And he goes back to his receipts and David goes back to unpacking the box and things feel weird until lunch, when David has a milkshake and actually remembers to bring Patrick a tea.

*

“It’s really pretty out here,” Patrick says as they get out of the car. David takes his time getting out of the passenger seat, and when he does he’s greeted by the highly terrifying sight of a living chicken. He gives a little yelp and hears people laughing at him. Multiple people.

He very reluctantly nudges the chicken out of the way with his toe and climbs out of the car to see Patrick, halfway between the car and the house, staring at him with a shit-eating grin, and behind him on the low wooden porch of their farmhouse are Aaron and Rachel Yoder. “Hello,” he calls out, and prays that it doesn’t sound as forced to them as it does to their own ears. Their mouths flatten into even thinner lines, though, so he doubts it.

Luckily at that moment, Patrick turns and introduces himself, walking half-way up the porch steps with his hand extended. Aaron look at him and smiles, shaking his hand firmly, and Rachel dips into a little curtsey, her eyes kind. It’s the polar opposite of the way they looked at David and the next time he catches Patrick eye, he raises an eyebrow as if to say ‘I told you so’.

The Yoders invite them inside and offer them glasses of lemonade before leading them to a back porch where they all take a seat in a set of wicker chairs set facing the back fields. David can hear the gentle moos of cows in the distance and the air smells like fresh grass and something floral and yeah. Okay. Maybe Patrick had a point.

“Can I just say, we are beyond thrilled to potentially be carrying the Yoder farm line of gourmet dairy products,” David says. 

“I will admit, Rachel and I have been reluctant to begin selling the family product. It’s a special recipe to the Yoders, and we wouldn’t want that...familial nature of things to change. Potentially.” The way he stresses the last word makes David’s mohair sweater feel like a straight jacket.

“I think you’ll find that many of our vendors are thrilled to be in our store, because we’re so focused on building a local, familiar and trusted brand,” Patrick speaks up. 

“Exactly. Rose Apothecary is both a general and specific store, Mr. Yoder, and it’s even more than that. It’s a community space, locally owned and family friendly, and it’s a place the people of Schitt’s Creek are coming to rely upon for the needs in their life that they can’t fill elsewhere.” It’s a truth that hits deeper than the Yoders could ever understand, and he can feel Patrick’s eyes on his back. He takes a deep breath and keeps talking. “We think that your gourmet butter spreads would be a great addition to our party line, and many of our other vendors see a 9-17% increase in repeat business traffic in their other products when they sell to us on consignment.”

Aaron doesn’t say anything, just looks out over the land behind the house and clenches his jaw. “Would you like to see the facilities, David?”

David’s heart races but he keep his voice level when he says, “sure.”

They leave Patrick on the porch with Rachel, talking about lemonade recipes and his mother’s church punch, and it’s so wholesome that David almost ducks down to kiss him on the head when he walks by, and then remembers that they’re not doing that, and it’s his idea. 

“I must say, you talk of your business in a way that surprises me,” Aaron says as he shows him around the barn where the cows are milked, the industrial sized churn and the small stations of different spice blends, a different butter made at each station - cinnamon honey, garlic and chives, a new three-pepper blend that they’ve just started experimenting with. 

“It still surprises me too, sometimes.” David doesn’t mean to say it, and it makes Aaron cock his head and look at him, confused. “It’s just. I don’t know if you remember the last time I was here?”

“How could we forget?” There should be laughter in his voice; there isn’t. 

“Yes. Right. Obviously. Well, that was the end of a not so great period of my life, and since then things have felt a little - chaotic.” It wasn’t the best word for his life since he’d run away to an Amish farm and come home to find work at the Blouse Barn, but it wasn’t a wrong word. “It still feels a little surreal sometimes.”

“I think I can understand that, David.” It’s David’s turn to be surprised. “God tells us all that sometimes we have to turn over the earth to encourage new growth.”

“Ah.” David doesn’t know what else to say, he never does when people mention God. “Um. Amen.”

Aaron laughs and claps David on the shoulder, showing him out of the barn and leading the way back to the house. “We would consider ourselves very blessed to sell Yoder Family Butter in Rose Apothecary.”

“You would?!”

“For the right final percentage and a reasonable number of shelvable units, yes.”

“You’ll have to talk to my — my business partner about all that.”

“The man you came with, Patrick? Your  _ business  _ partner?” He says it like he knows it’s a lie.

David blanches, choking on his own tongue. He makes an honest-to-god sputtering sound, and Aaron laughs so brightly and so deeply it fills the space around him. “We’re not — I mean, we are, but it’s really not-”

“David, we’re Amish. We’re not blind.”

“And it’s not? That is, I don’t want to-”

“You said Rose Apothecary was a family business, David, and Rachel and I are far more interested in the business than we are in the making of the family that runs it. You and Patrick seem like kind people. We want to be in business with kind people.”

And then he’s shaking David’s hand and they’re back at the house. Rachel sends them off with Patrick’s cell number — so he can text his mother’s blueberry pie recipe — and a sampler of butters and soft cheeses. When David slips his hand into Patrick’s, Patrick’s eyes go wide but he doesn’t say anything. They say their goodbyes and Aaron sets a date to meet with Patrick back at the store to finalize the contracts. There are handshakes and well-wishes and when Aaron and Rachel’s daughter runs through the kitchen Patrick winks at her and makes her laugh.

It’s not until they’re back in the car, David quietly glowing with pride, that Patrick finally says it.

“I told you.”

“Don’t say it.”

“I just did. I told you that you didn’t need me to close this deal.”

“I remember.”

Patrick reaches out and squeezes David’s leg just above his knee. “I’m very, very proud of you David Rose.” His voice is low and sincere and it makes David shiver. 

“Thank you, Patrick.”

“Then again, maybe this is really just the baseball game all over again. Who can say if my presence didn’t give you the last boost of confidence you needed.”

“Okay then,” and David turns up the radio until he can’t hear Patrick laughing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the children's classic ["Oh The Places You'll Go"](http://denuccio.net/ohplaces.html) by Dr. Seuss


End file.
